The problem with our system is that we think that all opinions are equal. The intellectual deficits present in Labour, NZ First and the Greens have been truly exposed with their calls for kooky ideas that are completely unjustified and have been proven in the real world to cause terrible side effects. Arguing for exchange rate intervention is an example of the stupidity we could expect if politicians had more influence on how monetary policy operates.

I am pleased that Graeme Wheeler has made it clear what job goals as Reserve Bank governor is – using inflation targeting as the monetary policy tool of the day and eschewing calls to intervene in the exchange rate and monetise government debt. Complaining that the Reserve Bank doesn’t make decisions by committee is childish in the extreme. Almost every other central bank in the world is worse than the RBNZ. They are extremely credible and a central reason for that is their strict adherence to their statutory mandate in the Reserve Bank Act.

There is no doubt that monetary policy is linked to our housing bubble in the 2000’s and a resurgent housing market. But to adjust monetary policy now by adding slippery targets on unemployment numbers, what the exchange rate should be and how much house prices should be defeats the entire purpose of having a reasonably independent central bank. Gareth Morgan’s comments that they should all be fired for incompetence are so far off the mark it’s not even funny.

Did we not learn anything from the sub-prime debacle in the United States? One of the key drivers behind lax regulation around new mortgage lending was the “housing affordability” and “owning a home makes you a real American” nonsense. Just because many people can’t afford to buy a house doesn’t mean that the OCR should be lowered to stimulate more investment in housing. A lot of that extra credit will sit on bank balance sheets for their own risk-free carry trades.

The risk premium for New Zealand debt has barely changed either. So what gives? If there was any likelihood of economic kooks coming to power, that risk premium would have shot up. So would the price of NZ government debt CDS swaps. If expectations were that the exchange rate would be lower then that would be reflected in the March 2014 NZD/USD futures. They’ve barely dropped a cent over the past month.

The truth is that if market participants were thinking like Bernard Hickey, there are about 4-5 different things they would have done to lower the risk of any changes in monetary policy impacting on the capital they have invested in New Zealand.

Bernard’s column is sadly unique in that no one actually thinks Labour, NZ First and the Greens will get anywhere near destroying the independence of the Reserve Bank. In not arguing that the policy changes Labour, NZ First and Greens are proposing fall into the category of kooky economics, he is ignoring the reality that quantitative easing reinforces inequality, makes housing affordability even worse and lowers real money balances.

If the market starts pricing in the possibility of kook monetary policy being implemented, I’ll revise my opinion. Needless to say I’ll be watching the yield curve and forward exchange rate numbers with interest.